When Life Takes You the Other Way

Ruth 1:14 (NIV) “….Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.”
I really enjoy reading the book of Ruth. Although it is one of the shorter books in the Bible, its brief storyline is overflowing with moments of determination, perseverance, triumph, hope and love. As you read the book of Ruth, you are reminded of God’s sovereignty and can clearly see His Spirit at work. His grace is never-ending, as it lovingly weaves it’s way through the lives of the men and women who are a part of this fascinating story.
Ruth was no doubt a phenomenal woman who inspired us with her loyalty to her mother in law Naomi. She was faithful to her, even though she had to temporarily sacrifice her own desires. Through a series of events and acts of obedience she ended up meeting and marrying the man of her dreams, Boaz. We are all encouraged by her unique story and can learn so much from the example she set.
 However, there is another lady in the book of Ruth whom we don’t know much about, that is Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law. After Naomi’s two sons passed away, these two ladies, Oprah and Ruth, were left with their mother in law Naomi. Naomi admonished both women to return to their homes but Ruth chose to stay with Naomi, while Orpah chose to leave. When comparing Orpah to Ruth, I have often heard people refer to Orpah as, “the one who left”. Have you ever wondered what may have been going on in Orpah’s heart when she took her mother in laws advice to return home?
Many times when people make decisions we may not know the reasons they decide to do what they do. Their actions can sometimes appear unreasonable when there are no details to accompany what we see them doing. The truth is that we don’t always know exactly how God may be working in the lives of others, even those closest to us. I think that is definitely the case with Orpah. We don’t have details and never got the chance to hear what she was feeling at the time. But I have to applaud her for being bold enough to “go the other way” and do what she felt was best for her.

We will all come across times in life where we maybe called to go in a different direction from where we thought we would go. We have to trust God’s sovereignty and believe He’s directing our steps. People may or may not understand you, but as long as you’re following God’s will for your life that is what is most important.

The next time you find yourself faced with a tough decision and you are being led to “go the other way”, remember Orpah and don’t hesitate to do what’s best for you. When we make bold moves on behalf of our Savior Jesus Christ, even though it may not be easy, we will find opportunities for personal and spiritual growth as we step out on faith.

Fear of the unknown may try to hinder our progress, but we can rest knowing that when we put God first He will always work out what is best for us.

 Father,

Help us not to be afraid to follow the path you have laid out before us, even when we don’t understand every detail. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen. 

Choose What is Better

Luke 10:38-42 (ESV)

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

Time tells us that Mary and Martha lived years and years before us, but our life experiences show us that they were not much different from us and were met with some of the same type of setbacks we face today. We live in a society that is unrelenting, constantly pulling our attention away from what matters most.  Countless chores and endless tasks hover over us, draining our energy and pressuring us to get things done NOW. We must be diligent to ask ourselves the question, “Am I choosing the good portion?”

I’m sure most of us can certainly identify with Martha. We have found ourselves in that place where our hands and our minds are so full that bringing ourselves to a place where we can settle down and focus our attention on what matters most can seem hard to achieve. Sometimes in our hearts we know that what we are spending our time doing is not really the most beneficial thing to do, but we do it anyway for a variety of reasons. Martha was a person, just like the rest of us, who wanted so badly to make a good impression by serving and making sure everything was in perfect order. Although at a glance it might appear that her intentions were good, Jesus who can see pass the surface and straight to the heart, knew that Martha was not making the right choice. He must have also known that her motives were not one hundred percent pure. Perhaps in those moments, her eagerness to be impressive outweighed a genuine interest to show love to her guest. As Jesus examined the hearts of these two women, He knew that Mary had indeed chosen what was better.

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Mary seized a golden opportunity to reach out for what she knew would benefit her the most, not only in that moment, but also in the long run. It can be easy to choose things that seem to benefit us now, but it pays off to go the extra mile and consider what type of consequences our “now decisions” will have in the future. Temporary pleasures or easy to achieve quick fixes can often cause long term pain if we are not careful. Just because something feels good does not mean it is good for us.

We owe it to ourselves to examine anyone and anything that competes for our attention. We only get one life to live and we have to do our best to make the most of it. When we look at Mary and how she handled herself in this situation, it serves as a powerful reminder to us to make choices that will enhance our lives. Mary chose to sit at the Master’s feet, and in doing so she made a simple yet very wise decision. As she sat and talked with Jesus, I can only imagine the blessings that were being imparted to her.

When we sit at His feet, we can come as we are. There is no right or wrong way to come to the Lord, because He will always accept us as we are and understand us even when we struggle to understand ourselves. As you live each day, ask God for wisdom to help you to choose what is better, because you are always worthy of His very best. Remember this, no matter how things may look in your life at the present moment, His desire is for you to walk in victory and ultimately have what is good and meaningful so….

Choose What is Better.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Stay Anchored in His Perfect Peace!

Isaiah 26:3 (NLT), You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Where would we be if God did not offer us His perfect peace to keep us through the many unexpected ups and downs of life? Peace does not represent the absence of conflict, tragedy or the often unfair and tiring struggles that disrupt our days, because these storms are a part of life. However, what it does represent is the constant reality of God’s presence in the midst of the stormy weather as we navigate our way through the high wind and heavy rain. God’s peace, when invited in, will even triumph over situations that seem to have no answers and are completely out of our control.

When we fix our thoughts on the majesty of Jesus Christ, it keeps things in perspective and saves us from drowning in the misery that comes from fear and uncertainty. His peace strengthens us to move forward one day at a time while staying anchored in hope and anticipation. When God’s peace and joy reside in our hearts, we are able to keep trusting Him that He will work out what is best for us. The world around us is in desperate need of peace, but not just any peace, God’s peace. As children who have been adopted into God’s family through the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:14-18), we have the very unique privilege of choosing to receive that peace and walk in it daily while sharing it with those around us. His peace surpasses all human understanding (Philippians 4:7). It’s a sweet mystery that brings comfort to our anxious hearts in the midst of the storm.

Peace Be Still (Mark 4:39).

Those are the words Jesus spoke as the storm was raging out at sea. The disciples were amazed at the stillness that followed the Master’s command. As He spoke everything came into perfect order. God wants to amaze you the same way. No matter what storms may be raging in your life, invite the peace of God in and find rest for your soul as He commands those storms to Be Still. Remember, everything is subject to the sound of His mighty voice. When He speaks, the storms of this life will listen and obey.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Empty Hands Full Heart

Psalm 103:5 (NLT), “He fills my life with good things…”

Empty Hands Full heart, is a phrase that has been coming to me a lot over the last couple of weeks. What this phrase is referring to are those times in life when your heart is so full of God and His promises, His love and His hope, but especially His hope. You just can’t seem to let go of hope, hope that things will get better, and hope that He has a great future in store for you. But yet in some ways your hands are empty. When I say empty I mean that you haven’t yet grabbed hold of those things you are hoping for in your life, even though you have them all in your heart. Your heart is so full but in reality there are prayers God has not yet answered, dreams you have that have not come true or goals you have that have not yet been reached. You have been diligently doing your part but it just always seems like there is something to get in your way, or someone trying to pull you back. But because your heart is full you keep doing your best to cling to God and His Word and keep walking by faith and not by sight like He tells us to do.

In your mind you may sometimes wonder if it’s worth going on, if it’s worth continuing to trust God, if it’s worth the fight or the effort. But in your heart you don’t want to give up. You want to hold fast to God and to His promises. You want to keep having that hope, and keep having that faith that everything is going to work out even though you don’t understand how. You may be tired or feel discouraged at times, but still you choose to believe with everything in you that things will work out in your favor. Today I am writing this for those whose hearts are full but their hands are empty. In spite of the things you do not understand or do not yet have, don’t give up. Look to God for strength, keep the faith and just believe. Keep believing that God has a miracle in store for you and keep being honest with Him about your feelings. Don’t try and hide your feelings and don’t try and be strong apart from God because our strength comes from Him. If you feel weak then tell Him so and rely on Him to refresh your soul. Every day keep pouring your heart out to Him and receive His love. Let that fullness that is in your heart flow throughout your life and into the lives of those around you. Trust God to fill your emptiness and don’t give up because you have come too far. Believe that He will move in your life and work all things together for good.

Whatever it is you need, rather its healing, rather its financial provision, rather it’s restoration in a relationship,  you just have to keep holding on and believing God to bring about the needed change. Even on your worst days when you may feel guilty or unworthy, that is when you look up and you remember that He loves you more than you could ever know. Look up toward heaven and say, “God thank you for a new day and thank you that you love me, thank you for your grace and your mercy, thank you for your never ending peace that surpasses all understanding. Thank you for holding me in your arms, thank you for never leaving me nor forsaking me, thank you for giving me strength to go on and thank you for filling my hands with all that You have for me.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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Press Delete & Start Over

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

Great is His faithfulness, His mercies are new every morning! I work in accounting and there have been times I was working on a reconciliation of some sort and for whatever reason I couldn’t get it to balance. I would review the numbers over and over again looking for typos, missing information or some other hidden error but I couldn’t find anything. I kept coming up empty. After sometimes spending hours of fighting with the reconciliation, or recon as we affectionately call it in accounting,  I would just decide to delete the whole thing and start over, which I honestly hated to do. However miraculously once I get rid of the old recon and rebuild the new recon things begin to work out perfectly! Every thing balances and I feel a sense of freedom, I’m free to move on to the next thing I need to accomplish. What I had just spent hours trying to fix was now resolved. The funny thing is that I never did figure out the root of the problem, it was somehow hidden from my sight. Our human nature usually wants to fully understand our problems and have all the answers but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. Some things are hidden from our sight or beyond our understanding. We just have to learn to simply trust God as we put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward.

These verses in Lamentations remind me that in life as we put our trust in God He offers us the relief we need. His mercies are new every morning. Every day He gives us a fresh, new start. We can repent and start over regardless of the difficulties or sins that we encountered the day before. What is it that you need to start over with today? What past sins do you need to repent of and receive God’s mercy and strength to continue on into all he Has for you? What guilty feelings or struggles do you need to let go of? Beware of spending countless hours, days, months, or even years trying to figure out something that God has already worked out if you would just trust Him to make your wrongs right and bring you the healing you need.

Today rest in the comfort of His never-ending love and find peace knowing that He is faithful. Accept His free gift of new mercy as you go through this day. Don’t be afraid to let go of your worries and struggles and definitely don’t be afraid to just press delete and start over.

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He’ll Show You The Way

Psalm 34:17 (NIV), “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”

A couple of days ago I was speaking to a friend of mine whom I had not spoken to in quite awhile. She shared with me some of the trials that she was in the midst of. She was pressing her way through many spiritual, emotional, financial, relationship, and even mental battles. She said the enemy was attacking her from many different directions. But as she spoke she never stop professing her faith and trust in God. She said she knew that in Him she would be victorious and that she would not accept any of the negative reports that the enemy was trying to throw her way. I was inspired by her strength and through her testimony I was reminded that regardless of what we maybe facing we can still make a firm decision to believe in the faithfulness of God. We can settle any doubt in our minds by meditating on the truth of His Word and we can encourage ourselves by proclaiming what it says. We can’t rush God or His plans but we can call out to him any time of day or night and He promises to hear our cries for help and give us exactly what we need in that moment. That’s one of the many things I love about the character of God, He always knows exactly what we need and when we need it. His ways are perfect and the decisions He makes for our lives are flawless.

Before the convenient GPS days, did you ever end up driving through a neighborhood looking for a particular place and end up a little turned around or maybe even completely lost? Then you turn down a particular street hopeful that you will be able to finally find your way out of the maze only to discover the street you turned down leads to a dead end. This can be frustrating to say the least. Because now, not only do you have to turn around but you also have to start over and search for another way out. It’s the same way with life, we may at times find ourselves searching for a way out of a difficult maze that has come our way. The “maze” maybe, health problems, relationship problems, emotional problems, financial problems, the list can go on, but just remember that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). In Him we are equipped with all we need and He has promised to direct our paths if we trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6). Even when we feel we have come to a “dead end”, we can rest assured that Christ knows the way out and He will guide us safely to our destination. His love is always present with us wherever we go.

Father,

Thank you for leading us everyday. You Word says you guard the course of the just and protect the way of your faithful ones (Proverbs 2:8). When we find ourselves at a “dead end”, help us to recognize it as another opportunity to trust You more while being confident that you will never leave us and that you will open the right doors for us at the right time.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.